DOHA: Gulf Drilling International (GDI), a subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS), Qatar’s largest oilfield service company, has awarded two contracts worth about QR400m ($110m) to Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM), a joint venture shipyard between Nakilat and Singapore’s Keppel O&M.

The first contract is for the construction of a self-propelled and self-elevating liftboat, which is customised for field transit operations in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in water depths of up to 65 metres. When completed at the end of 2015, the liftboat will provide accommodation and platform support services for a customer with operations in Qatar.

N-KOM has also been awarded a six-year repair and maintenance contract for GDI’s existing fleet of jack-up rigs operating in the Middle East.

The contracts were signed by Ibrahim J Al Othman, CEO of GDI, and Abdullah Fadhalah Al Sulaiti, Chairman of N-KOM, in the presence of H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada, the Minister of Energy and Industry.

Dr Al Sada, said: “Today marks an important milestone in the development of Qatar’s offshore industry with placing the order for the first built-in-Qatar liftboat. It also highlights the impressive growth of our offshore industry and of the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard (where N-KOM is located).”

He expressed confidence that the collaboration between GDI and N-KOM, will help ensure the continued success of Qatar’s Energy and Industry sectors for many years to come.”

Al Sulaiti, said: “N-KOM has delivered a significant number of repairs for GDI’s offshore drilling fleet over the past three years and we have come to intimately understand their requirements. Having already established ourselves in the ship repair market, our next step is to capture the robust regional offshore market by leveraging on Nakilat and Keppel O&M’s expertise to provide quality and value-added offshore solutions. In this regard, we are committed to deliver a high-quality liftboat to GDI to support their offshore fleet.”

Al Othman, added: “GDI is pleased to sign this contract with N-KOM for the construction of their first liftboat. It will add to our growing fleet of quality rigs, which N-KOM will also be maintaining for us. We look forward to receiving a “best in class” liftboat on the scheduled delivery date.”

This will be the fourth vessel in GDI’s fleet that is dedicated to providing accommodation and platform support services, which are complementary to GDI’s core business of drilling. The other diversified vessels in GDI’s fleet include the liftboat “Rumailah”, the accommodation jack-up “Zikreet” and another liftboat that GDI is managing through a Charter Party.

Designed by Bennett Offshore, a naval architecture and marine engineering arm of Keppel O&M, in collaboration with N-KOM, the LB310- design liftboat can undertake a wide range of services such as well servicing, commissioning, maintenance and decommissioning of offshore platforms. The customized liftboat is equipped with two deck cranes, a large open deck space of around 800 sqm, a helideck, and accommodation capacity for 130 persons. The liftboat also allows for a specially designed gangway bridge to link it to the customer’s platform for emergency escape and other safety purposes.

Liftboats are more efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional offshore service vessels, as they can be mobilised without requiring third party assistance.The Peninsula